Would you use WD-40 for cleaning and/or lubricating bike chains? If not, what works?

[enkei]

Do what I did: convert to hot wax. Completely ends any worry about what oil/degreaser to use and eliminates having to deal with the awful gunky mess.

[Painkiller]

(08-29-2024, 11:06 PM)froze Wrote:  

(07-14-2024, 07:35 AM)Painkiller Wrote:  The short answer is no. WD-40 used to be a product, now it is a product line. But the original WD-40 is not a lubricant. They may have a lubricant in their lineup. I have not used any of their products

WD40 is a lubricant! Howbeit a very poor lubricant.

How do we know that WD40 is a lubricant? By simply reading the ingredients, here is what those ingredients are: 51% Stoddard solvent (i.e., mineral spirits: primarily hexane, somewhat similar to kerosene) · 25% Liquefied petroleum gas (presumably as a propellant; carbon dioxide is now used instead to reduce WD-40's considerable flammability) · 15+% Mineral oil (light lubricating oil) · 10-% Inert ingredients.

so is my spit, how do we know this? By looking at its make up, 100% slippery ****. Just as good lube for a chain as the original WD-40 would be. It may have lubricant properties but was never intended to be a lubricant.!

[meamoantonio]

(07-15-2024, 11:30 PM)Jesper Wrote:  

(07-15-2024, 03:06 PM)enkei Wrote:  The only thing WD-40 might be useful for is for penetrating and loosening seized fasteners or similar, and even for that job I've found superior products such as Sea Foam Deep Creep.

For industrial purposes my company went with Kroil which worked better than WD40; also PB Blaster. I still do not use them for actual lubrication, but for a penetrant they work quite well.

Since I am not a professional cyclist, nor worried about the "fastest, lowest friction" lubes out there I just do not see the cost effectiveness between these high priced specialty products and a more general (in my case custom developed and low cost) products where given the cost I can afford to just replace my chain with a new one.
To me keeping your drivetrain clean is the most important aspect. If I just cleaned my drivetrain (full chain off and complete cog/pulley cleaning), and the next day I run into conditions that dirty it up again I will clean it again the same way. I have spare chains for different high use bikes that are ready to go so no real loss of time doing my double to triple solvent bath cleaning and suspended wax/oil bath lubrication.
I generally remove and clean the drivetrain about every 200 miles. I just look at what is on my legs and know my drivetrain was exposed to the same contaminants, not including the micro metal particles inherently being shed by your components.

Why are my chains and cogs lasting 5000 miles plus without failure or undue wear.

Note: my "custom" mix essentially occurred by accident while testing a "dry" wax lube. I hated the stuff other than keeping less debris from sticking to my parts, but the driventrain was nearly as noisy as unlubricated one and actually sounded squeaky in some cases. After lettingva bottle sit for over a year the solvent part dried up and I was left with the fine wax precipitant. Mixed with oil, I found a great (thus far) means of using wax while also having the wet lube benfits. I have used the synthetic motor oil over heavier hyboid gear oil because I want the suspended wax to better flow into the workings of the chain. Total cost: about $20; actually lower due to reusability of some products (bottle of dry wax lube about $4, 2 cups of synth. oil $3, 1 gallon petrol bath for chain cleaning $4, 1 quart 90% alcohol $3, 1 quart paraffin [will use for many chains] $5) = about 2 years of lube/cleaning for one chain. Even spending that amount on a yearly basis is no competition compared to the cost "Specialty" stuff. All I can say is "Muc-Off"!

My drivetrains are 30 to 50 years old (newest drivetrain is 25yrs old and original) some still with original cogs and chains. How can that be? Keep your stuff clean!

I am still experimenting using synthetic oil mixed with a very small amount of grease on hub bearings; the jury is still out on that one. I do use 1 to 2 drops of oil in bearing rebuilds with normal grease in order to keep grease from drying out since not all bikes are used regularly.

Amazing stuff as always, have the chains never stretched out over time or is this just predominant in the newer group sets? I usually have to change my chain in 2 years or after significant mileage

[Frankly]

(07-14-2024, 03:24 AM)Flowrider Wrote:  I've read and heard so many conflicting thoughts on WD-40.

Be great to hear what you think?

WD40 (original) is largely paint thinner as far as I can tell. There may be some very light oil in it but not much and not very effective. It is useful for using on levers that in cold weather seize up. It will wash the hardened grease up.

[Jesper]

@meamoantonio chain "stretch" is a deceptive term. When you compare a new chain to an old one and see that the old one is longer while having the same number of links this is not due to stretching, but due to the small amount of wear resulting in play in each linkage pivot which inevitably adds up over the length of the chain. The more wear, the less synchronized the chain roller to tooth engagement resulting in quicker tooth wear (especially alloy cogs), as well as more chain wear.

It is the fine grit and metal particulates that work into the tight areas that cause the eventual "stretch". These contaminants cannot be avoided on an exposed drive system (belt drives included). I just finished cleaning my chainrings and freewheel cogs (yes, every little trough!), plastic type jockey pulleys (removed, disassembled, cleaned, lubed, reassembled onto RD mech; but need new ones-tooth wear & bearing play), and solvent baths for the chain. I noticed my nearly 40 year old FW has somewhat excessive end-play and I want to replace it. Not a home right now so I bring everything to my old bike shop from childhood days and get things checked. Chain, chainrings, FW cogs- essentially no wear. So the only real wear was in the FW bearing, but proper maintenance on the drive has kept it going for 40 years except one chain replacement (still had original hubs, FW, rear mech pulleys, rings) and that is because of routine maintenance and not necessarily due to using the best or most appropriate lube oil/grease; but instead keeping the parts and lubricant from becoming contaminated and causing wear even though I only used basic lubes through most of my cycling days.

I received my wheel back with the new FW, re-installed, and lubed all parts as required. Everything was shiny, clean, and quiet running. Upon taking my bike on its maiden voyage while riding in my old hometown I decided to ride up an old street as a lark to add mileage and see the old neighborhood. The road turned from poor pavement into asphalt crumbs with dust, grit, and pebbles flying. In one mile, after having a completely clean drivetrain, everything was covered in contaminants (including my lower legs) and it would easily equate to 100 to 200 miles of road grit that accumulated in only one mile. I now have to repeat the entire cleaning/lubing process again because of one ride. Folks need to understand that you cannot base all maintenance on miles or number of rides. Most bike maintenance is (should be) based on terrain conditions and weather during use (and storage). People are not educated enough when buying a bike as to when and how maintenance should be performed; and most bike owners are not going to perform the same maintenance again after only one ride even though that is exactly what is required to keep your bike's components/performance in optimal condition and provide a long life.

Remember, you generally clean your dishes and clothing after only one use; but people let their expensive bikes get dirtier and dirtier (especially gravel, mtb's, etc.) and then wonder why chains and other parts need replacing in short order.

The main drawback to any off-road riding is having to increase your routine maintenance by 10 to 100 fold since technically you cause excessive contaminant intrusion into the drivetrain on every ride, and proper maintenance would be required on a ride by ride basis to maintain and preserve the bike's performance (but who wants to do that?!).

[rydabent]

Cleaning yes, lubrication no.

[meamoantonio]

(09-03-2024, 11:55 PM)Jesper Wrote:  @meamoantonio chain "stretch" is a deceptive term. When you compare a new chain to an old one and see that the old one is longer while having the same number of links this is not due to stretching, but due to the small amount of wear resulting in play in each linkage pivot which inevitably adds up over the length of the chain. The more wear, the less synchronized the chain roller to tooth engagement resulting in quicker tooth wear (especially alloy cogs), as well as more chain wear.

It is the fine grit and metal particulates that work into the tight areas that cause the eventual "stretch". These contaminants cannot be avoided on an exposed drive system (belt drives included). I just finished cleaning my chainrings and freewheel cogs (yes, every little trough!), plastic type jockey pulleys (removed, disassembled, cleaned, lubed, reassembled onto RD mech; but need new ones-tooth wear & bearing play), and solvent baths for the chain. I noticed my nearly 40 year old FW has somewhat excessive end-play and I want to replace it. Not a home right now so I bring everything to my old bike shop from childhood days and get things checked. Chain, chainrings, FW cogs- essentially no wear. So the only real wear was in the FW bearing, but proper maintenance on the drive has kept it going for 40 years except one chain replacement (still had original hubs, FW, rear mech pulleys, rings) and that is because of routine maintenance and not necessarily due to using the best or most appropriate lube oil/grease; but instead keeping the parts and lubricant from becoming contaminated and causing wear even though I only used basic lubes through most of my cycling days.

I received my wheel back with the new FW, re-installed, and lubed all parts as required. Everything was shiny, clean, and quiet running. Upon taking my bike on its maiden voyage while riding in my old hometown I decided to ride up an old street as a lark to add mileage and see the old neighborhood. The road turned from poor pavement into asphalt crumbs with dust, grit, amd pebbles flying. In one mile, after having a completely clean drivetrain, everything was covered in contaminants (including my lower legs) and it would easily equate to 100 to 200 miles of road grit that accumulated in only one mile. I now have to repeat the entire cleaning/lubing process again because of one ride. Folks need to understand that you cannot base all maintenance on miles or number of rides. Most bike maintenance is (should be) based on terrain conditions and weather during use (and storage). People are not educated enough when buying a bike as to when and how maintenance should be performed; and most bike owners are not going to perform the same maintance again after only one ride even though that is exactly what is required to keep your bike's components/performance in optimal condition and provide a long life.

Remember, you generally clean your dishes and clothing after only one use; but people let their expensive bikes get dirtier and dirtier (especially gravel, mtb's, etc.) and then wonder why chains and other parts need replacing in short order.

The main drawback to any off-road riding is having to increase your routine maintenance by 10 to 100 fold since technically you cause excessive contaminant intrusion into the drivetrain on every ride, and proper maintenance would be required on a ride by ride basis to maintain and preserve the bike's performance (but who wants to do that?!).

This is an awesome point Jesper, thank you as always for your valuable insight!